My Recipe For A Chimay Bleue Style Brew (so Far)

[trevc]

So... I've been doing some reading, and hassling Browndog and bindi for recipe ideas. Cheers guys.

Chimay apparently has wheat starch in the grainbill @ 10-15%, so I used torrified wheat instead. I've also read in a few places that they use Cluster for bittering (as liquid hops). I wasn't too sure about the Hallertauer, but it seems to occur the most often in Chimay recipes. Some people speculate there's grains of paradise in there as well, so I'm thinking of giving that a try. This one should come out right around the 10% mark, which is just where I like 'em.

As always, input is much appreciated. I've formulated this recipe purely based on the combined input of various sources and people. I've gone with what I think will taste good and create a balance flavour profile (which may not be correct, by any means).

And.... shit, it's nearly 4am. I'm off to bed.



Recipe: Chimay Bleue (01)
Brewer: Trev
Asst Brewer: Ali
Style: Belgian Dark Strong Ale

Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 26.00 L
Boil Size: 37.53 L
Estimated OG: 1.097 SG
Estimated Color: 43.9 EBC
Estimated IBU: 28.0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
0.05 kg Rice Hulls (0.0 EBC) Adjunct 0.50 %
6.75 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 66.83 %
1.00 kg Wheat, Torrified (3.3 EBC) Grain 9.90 %
0.35 kg Caraaroma (Weyermann) (350.7 EBC) Grain 3.47 %
0.35 kg Caramunich I (Weyermann) (100.5 EBC) Grain 3.47 %
0.35 kg Melanoidin (Weyermann) (59.1 EBC) Grain 3.47 %
0.15 kg Chocolate Malt, Pale (Bairds) (600.0 EBC) Grain 1.49 %
26.00 gm Cluster [9.30 %] (90 min) Hops 20.9 IBU
23.00 gm Hallertauer [6.60 %] (15 min) Hops 6.1 IBU
23.00 gm Hallertauer [6.60 %] (2 min) Hops 1.0 IBU
8.00 gm Hallertauer [6.60 %] (0 min) Hops -
1.00 tsp Yeast Nutrient (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
2.00 gm Seeds of Paradise (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1.10 kg Dememera Sugar (add to primary at day 3) (Sugar 10.89 %
1 Pkgs Belgian Ale (Wyeast Labs #1214) [Starter 2000ml]

Total Grain Weight: 9.00 kg
----------------------------
Single Infusion, Medium Body, Batch Sparge
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
90 min Mash In Add 24.30 L of water at 71.0 C 65.0 C
10 min Mash Out Add 18.37 L of water at 92.6 C 76.0 C

 

[neonmeate]

the real stuff has dextrose and probably none of the specialty malts there - think they use black malt syrup (like sinamar) for colour. but i think yours will probably come out better!
Personally i would rather clone rochefort, or westvleteren, or gouden carolus, or malheur, or caracole nostradamus, or abbaye des rocs.

i assume youve read this expose on the ingredients?
http://www.whitebeertravels.co.uk/chimay.html

 

[white.grant]

A victim of its own success perhaps?

 

[trevc]

Thanks for the link neonmeate, I came across that one last night.

What do you think of the recipe, do I have the right balance of speciality grains? Belgian Special B, and Belgian Aromatic would've been ideal, but I've used the closet substitutes I could find.

Personally i would rather clone rochefort, or westvleteren, or gouden carolus, or malheur, or caracole nostradamus, or abbaye des rocs.

Which recipes have you made so far? any luck?

 

[Fourstar]

My thaughts, drop the chocolate malt for carafa special, just to ensure you dont get any astringency from the hull. Will such a high alc% you really need some balance there. Good idea with the torrefied wheat. it WILL make your beer cloudy and up the starches ( not that you will notice with the colour), i made a belgian wit with it and k-97 yeast, good amount of starch. Maybe even adjust some of the maris otter for munich to up the maltiness. Drop the melanoiden and up the caraaroma+carafa to get the nice fruit flavours/aroma to come thru. My grain bill would look something like:



4.50 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter 50%
2.50 kg Light Munich Malt 27.77%
1.00 kg Wheat, Torrified 11.11%
0.40 kg Caraaroma (Weyermann) 4.44%
0.40 kg Caramunich I (Weyermann) 4.44%
0.20 kg Carafa special (Weyermann) 2.22%


Mmmmmm i think i might put one down soon for cellaring until next winter.

I think you have just started my next recipe for me

Cheers!

 

[neonmeate]

Thanks for the link neonmeate, I came across that one last night.

What do you think of the recipe, do I have the right balance of speciality grains? Belgian Special B, and Belgian Aromatic would've been ideal, but I've used the closet substitutes I could find.


Which recipes have you made so far? any luck?

i reckon your specialties are about right. perhaps carafa instead of choc, yeah but youre using pale choc which is a bit toastier. i think it'll be good either way, but perhaps a bit less?

i have made a few good dark strong belgians. i tried to clone gouden carolus and eventually sort of went my own way with the recipe and it was good - think i have posted this elsewhere but this one turned out very nice, and even warren liked it when i sent im a bottle.

Recipe Overview
Wort Volume Before Boil: 17.00 l Wort Volume After Boil: 15.00 l
Volume Transferred: 15.00 l Water Added To Fermenter: 0.00 l
Volume At Pitching: 15.00 l Volume Of Finished Beer: 15.00 l
Expected Pre-Boil Gravity: 1.053 SG Expected OG: 1.074 SG
Expected FG: 1.014 SG Apparent Attenuation: 80.2 %
Expected ABV: 8.1 % Expected ABW: 6.3 %
Expected IBU (using Tinseth): 23.8 IBU Expected Color: 33.4 SRM
Mash Efficiency: 62.0 % Approx Color:
Boil Duration: 120.0 mins
Fermentation Temperature: 18 degC


Fermentables
Ingredient Amount % When
German Pilsner Malt 2.90 kg 54.1 % In Mash/Steeped
German Dark Munich Malt 0.97 kg 18.0 % In Mash/Steeped
UK Torrified Wheat 0.34 kg 6.3 % In Mash/Steeped
German CaraMunich II 0.18 kg 3.3 % In Mash/Steeped
UK Amber Malt 0.18 kg 3.3 % In Mash/Steeped
German CaraAroma 0.18 kg 3.3 % In Mash/Steeped
Sugar - Candi Sugar Dark 0.44 kg 8.1 % End Of Boil
Sugar - Corn Sugar/Dextrose (Dry) 0.19 kg 3.6 % End Of Boil


Hops
Variety Alpha Amount Form When
Slovenian Styrian Goldings 4.2 28 g Loose Whole Hops 80 Min From End
Slovenian Styrian Goldings 4.2 14 g Loose Whole Hops 20 Min From End


Other Ingredients
Ingredient Amount When
Orange Peel, Bitter 10 g In Boil
Star Anise 1 g In Boil
Coriander Seed 1 g In Dispense Vessel


Yeast
White Labs WLP530-Abbey Ale


Water Profile
Target Profile: No Water Profile Chosen
Mash pH: 5.3
pH Adjusted with: Unadjusted

Total Calcium (ppm): 12 Total Magnesium (ppm): 5
Total Sodium (ppm): 13 Total Sulfate (ppm): 9
Total Chloride(ppm): 25 Total Bicarbonate (ppm): 0


Mash Schedule
Mash Type: Full Mash
Schedule Name: Single Step Infusion (68C/154F)

Step Type Temperature Duration
Rest at 68 degC 60


Recipe Notes
90' boil. hops for 75 and 15. soft rochefort dark candi. 1 1/2 stars star anise, 10g curacao peel 30mins. FG 1006.

 

[trevc]

Thanks for that. It sounds really good. I'd never seen Star Anise in there... those crazy monks

Any experience with grains/seeds of paradise? I haven't tasted the stuff.

Still revising my recipe here.

 

[neonmeate]

star anise was an educated guess by me - i know that carolus has 3 spices in it so i guessed curacao, coriander (obvious enough) and star anise. no idea whether it is in the original beer but it worked really well in mine. i have used it in porters and stouts too and it is nice - blends in better than licorice or aniseed.

have used GOP too and they are tasty. other spices ive liked in belgian dark strongs are cardamom, pepper, caraway, and allspice.

spices are fun but don't go overboard - just a little bit too much can wreck yer beer. i like small amounts of a few different things that combine to make a mystery superspice.

 

[trevc]

Yeah, I figured some restraint with the spices was important. I can only imagine how nasty a beer would become with too much coriander.

Do you think Styrian or Hallertauer is more appropriate for the style?

Also, beersmith is saying my recipe is too dark for the guidelines. Not that I care, I just found it strange there was a limit to how "dark" a dark Belgian can be.

 

[neonmeate]

Yeah, I figured some restraint with the spices was important. I can only imagine how nasty a beer would become with too much coriander.

Do you think Styrian or Hallertauer is more appropriate for the style?

Also, beersmith is saying my recipe is too dark for the guidelines. Not that I care, I just found it strange there was a limit to how "dark" a dark Belgian can be.

yeah you're not making a stout - the dark malts should just be a part of it. a lot of your colour should come from dark candi or similar - demerara will taste nice but for authenticity consider splurging a bit for either ross's rochefort sugar, or dark candi syrup from G&G, or homemaking dark caramel things by boiling down white sugar syrup like a lot of people round here do for their belgians.

styrian hallertau same diff, anything noble works.

 

[trevc]

Ok... noted. I've made the rock candy a few times before, or had my wife make it. She's a great brewery helper The retail stuff seems too pricey for what it is. It seems like we're paying so much for it to be imported.

I have a wedding to attend on some boat today. Hopefully I'll get home early enough to work on the recipe. "I'd rather be brewing".

 

[stindall]

Ok... noted. I've made the rock candy a few times before, or had my wife make it. She's a great brewery helper The retail stuff seems too pricey for what it is. It seems like we're paying so much for it to be imported.

I have a wedding to attend on some boat today. Hopefully I'll get home early enough to work on the recipe. "I'd rather be brewing".

Hey Trev,

Did you end up making this brew? How did it go?

One question, when you add the sugar to the primary on day 3, do you just sprinkle it in or do you dissolve it in water first? Bring it to the boil? How?

Thanks,
Steve...

 

[SJW]

Hey Trev,

Did you end up making this brew? How did it go?

One question, when you add the sugar to the primary on day 3, do you just sprinkle it in or do you dissolve it in water first? Bring it to the boil? How?

Thanks,
Steve...

Can't speak for Trev but when I have added sugar to the primary or secondary I boil it up in 500mls or so of water and dump it in.

Steve

 

[SJW]

This is a 3rd place comp. Belgian Strong, I think its similar to one Doc made. Great brew though.

Belgian Strong*
Belgian Golden Strong Ale


Type: All Grain
Date: 21/07/2007
Batch Size: 28.00 L
Brewer: Stephen Wright
Boil Size: 35.90 L Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 75 min Equipment: Hop Monster Brewery
Taste Rating(out of 50): 0.0 Brewhouse Efficiency: 66.00
Taste Notes: 3rd Place HAG 2008

Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
7500.00 gm Pilsner (Weyermann) (3.3 EBC) Grain 70.56 %
750.00 gm Wheat Malt, Pale (Weyermann) (3.9 EBC) Grain 7.06 %
350.00 gm Amber Malt (43.3 EBC) Grain 3.29 %
350.00 gm Carafoam (Weyermann) (3.9 EBC) Grain 3.29 %
350.00 gm Carared (Weyermann) (47.3 EBC) Grain 3.29 %
45.00 gm Goldings, East Kent [4.20 %] (60 min) Hops 13.2 IBU
10.00 gm Northern Brewer [9.90 %] (60 min) Hops 6.9 IBU
55.00 gm Saaz [2.50 %] (30 min) Hops 7.4 IBU
0.50 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1000.00 gm Brown Sugar, Dark (98.5 EBC) Sugar 9.41 %
330.00 gm Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 EBC) Sugar 3.10 %
1 Pkgs Belgian Strong Ale (Wyeast Labs #1388) Yeast-Ale



Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.087 SG
Measured Original Gravity: 1.087 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.020 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.016 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 8.73 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 9.31 %
Bitterness: 27.5 IBU Calories: 845 cal/l
Est Color: 26.1 EBC Color: Color


Mash Profile

Mash Name: Double Infusion, Light Body Total Grain Weight: 9300.00 gm
Sparge Water: 15.21 L Grain Temperature: 12.0 C
Sparge Temperature: 75.6 C TunTemperature: 12.0 C
Adjust Temp for Equipment: TRUE Mash PH: 5.4 PH

Double Infusion, Light Body Step Time Name Description Step Temp
10 min Protein Rest Add 15.00 L of water at 54.0 C 46.0 C
60 min Saccrification Add 15.00 L of water at 88.5 C 65.0 C